Hello, all! This is a preliminary announcement for the third annual ATROPHY (April Tournament Run On Pennies, Halfpence, and Yen) day of quizbowl, to be held at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, on April 28th, 2012.

The tournament will be very similar to last year: the spirit of ATROPHY is to provide a late-season quizbowl experience without draining the budget. Accordingly, entry fee information will be posted after Huskie Bowl finances close and we know just how deep we can cut the price. Buzzer discounts will be available; travel discounts will be very, very available (out-of-state teams play for $10; in-state teams that need a discount on entry fees due to transportation issues simply need ask), and moderator discounts will be closer to the -$40 that Northwestern's offering for Midwest Championship. (The minimum entry fee will be $10) I will email everyone again around February 1st with full financial details.

Teams will be capped at six players per team; B-teams are encouraged to register, though B-teams that are not attending nationals will be waitlisted until March 1st. Lunch will not be provided, but there are numerous lunch options around campus.

New this year - we will be offering two divisions for ATROPHY, an Uber-Competitive division and a Standard division. We will use Yale's BHSAT set, the same question source as last year. From experience and reputation, this set will be a high quality set appropriate both for experienced and completely new teams; we invite teams seeking a rigorous nationals-prep experience to join the Uber-Competitive division and all other teams looking to finish 2011-12 and/or prepare for 2012-13 to join the Standard division.

If you would like to register for ATROPHY, please email me OR post in this thread, stating...# of buzzers you will bring# of moderators you will bring# of teams, with the preferred division for each; note that non-nationals-attending B-teams are waitlisted until March 1st.

Following the tournament, interested parties may once again enjoy Donald Taylor's charity solo tournament, which will be using Centennial's ATTACK set. Entry fees will be $10 per person, with a $10 discount for moderators (applied to a school's total fee) and a $5 discount for buzzers (applied to a school's total fee). All profits will go to Matt's Buzzers. Like last year, we'll probably coordinate a dinner pizza order to minimize delay time between ATROPHY and Charity Singles, so if you're interested in playing both, please bring money or a sack dinner.

If you would like to register for the charity solo event, please email Donald Taylor at dtaylor1987@gmail.com, stating...# of interested players# of buzzers you will bring# of moderators you will bring

We look forward to seeing you and your team!Brad FischerTD, ATROPHY 3 @ Northern Illinois University

The above quote is correct, but I forgot to adjust that fact into the other part of the post - and that's what I looked at when putting IMSA's teams in the field. Oops - the post and the field are fixed.

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

Loyola will probably have two teams for Uber. The B team has qualified for NSC, but probably won't be attending, if that matters. Edit: The B team totally will be attending NSC, but not actually this, because it is prom weekend.

Last edited by mlaird on Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

David MaddenRidgewood (NJ) '99, Princeton '03Founder and Director: International History Bee and Bowl, National History Bee and Bowl, International History Olympiad, United States Geography Olympiad, National Sports and Entertainment History Bee, US History Bee, National Citizenship Bee, et al.Adviser and former head coach for Team USA at the International Geography Olympiad

pblessman wrote:I must've missed something... I thought this was originally scheduled for 4/21... If it's on 4/28, we can't play as we will be in DC for History Bowl. Any chance of moving the date? :-)

Tangentially related: if you or your team want something to do in Illinois on the weekend of 4/21, we could use some help staffing MSNCT. (Hotels rooms provided.) An official staffer call will happen after SCT, but contact me if this intrigues you.

Unfortunately, the date is pretty much set; any later and NIU won't let us have the rooms, any earlier and it conflicts with various other things. Anyone who was planning on doing National History Bowl and Bee won't change their plans just to go to NIU for the fifth time this year. My apologies to NHBB, Culver, and anyone else inconvenienced.

In other news, Huskie Bowl's finances are in the books, so we have set entry fee information for ATROPHY.

Base Fee: $25 per team (no discount for B teams)Buzzer discount: -$5 per set (max one discount per school)Moderator discount: -$10 per moderator we need (we have to work this out ahead of time; email me)Travel discount: If you're not from Illinois, you play for $10 automatically; If you're a >2.5 hour drive via Google Maps, you play for $10 automatically.New team discount: If your school has never played an NIU quizbowl tournament before, you play for $10.Minimum fee: $10

This will be emailed out later today.

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

Bone seeker wrote:B-teams are in the field, now, and we've still got plenty of room for more teams!

If you really need teams would there be any chance that you would consider adding a "middle school pool/middle school team division" using the same questions? 2/3 of my team are 8th graders and they would jump at an opportunity to experience "high school" questions in preparation for next year.

Just saw we're not in the above field list; as far as I know Carbondale is totally playing this tournament. We're not sure about the Donald tournament yet. It would probably require us to stay another night, so it's not likely any of us will play.

Ben ChametzkyUniversity of Chicago, 2016Carbondale Community High School, 2012IHSSBCA High School Liaison 2011-2012

Antonio Sant'Elia wrote:Just saw we're not in the above field list; as far as I know Carbondale is totally playing this tournament. We're not sure about the Donald tournament yet. It would probably require us to stay another night, so it's not likely any of us will play.

dtaylor4 wrote:Bumping this. I've received zero registrations or indications of interest for a side event. If any players are interested or want to register, email me ASAP.

I have heard interest in the side event in peoples' ATROPHY registrations, so I'm pretty certain this will run. Just remember, registering for it goes through Donald, not me; I'll send a reminder to that effect in an upcoming email to registered teams.

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

We are very very probably going to close the field at 12 teams in each division -- the BHSAT set is 13 packets, so woohoo for full round robin -- and right now, reserving spots for all interested teams, we have one spot left in each division. If you're on the fence about extending your season, jump off on the right side and email me now!

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

I'm not going to be at this (and I don't think Filip and Alex Pandya will be, either) but I think that Ms. Greene mentioned that we'd end up sending like two (maybe three?) teams to this. I imagine one would be Lloyd playing solo, and the other would be our B team, or something like that. Just as a heads up.

Abid Haseeb Auburn High School '12Brown University '16Writer, HSAPQWriter, NAQT

Although our coaches wouldn't be able to make it, Homewood-Flossmoor is very interested in registering for the standard division. We are not 100% especially because it would be our first coach-less tournament. We would bring 0 moderators, 1 buzzer, and 5ish interested players.

Reminded user to enable a signature --Mgmt.

Ron NwumehHomewood-Flossmoor High School '12Washington University in St. Louis '16

woomaybe wrote:Although our coaches wouldn't be able to make it, Homewood-Flossmoor is very interested in registering for the standard division. We are not 100% especially because it would be our first coach-less tournament. We would bring 0 moderators, 1 buzzer, and 5ish interested players.

With the registration of SHIELD Academy, the Uber division is now closed, pending the registrations of Auburn B and Peoria Christian. If one/both of those teams doesn't take their spot in the Uber division, then it'll open back up. We won't have more than 12 teams in Uber.

Our staffing situation looks good enough to do it, so we can expand Standard to 14 teams to accommodate Auburn C (once they register) and Homewood-Flossmoor. Everyone else -- if you're thinking about registering for Standard and can bring a moderator, it's not too late to sign up! Even if you don't have a moderator, get on the waiting list in case Auburn C doesn't register!

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

Pulling third at this tournament was totally enjoyable. The moderators and competition were both of the highest quality. Thanks to all the mods and the NIU crew. A team of Ned Lauber and I won the charity solo, which was also lots of fun. Both sets played were excellent, but of course if there are discussion threads made I'd love to contribute to those with a few minor things.

Ben ChametzkyUniversity of Chicago, 2016Carbondale Community High School, 2012IHSSBCA High School Liaison 2011-2012

Thank you to everyone who made ATROPHY 3 and the charity singles events successful.

*An "NIU quizbowl tournament" is never really an "NIU tournament" - we may have the building and take the registration emails, but it's the entire state of Illinois (and, today, Indiana!) that puts it together, and we're incredibly grateful to everyone who helped out. Colossal thanks go out to Greg Dzuricsko, Tom Egan, Jonah Greenthal, Michael Hundley, Ali Nagib, Mike Perovanovic, and Clark Reamer for spending their Saturday helping us out. Immense thanks are also due to Tim Coughlan, Ben Dillon, Matt Laird, Mike Laudermith, Sharon Lorinskas, and Neva O'Laughlin for taking time away from coaching to help this tournament run smoothly. We literally can't do this without you; I hope we made your jobs easy and your day fun.

*Thanks to all the players who made this event a great competition. Congratulations to Lloyd Sy (playing solo), who staged a legendary comeback against a dominant New Trier team to win the one-game final and the ATROPHY 3 Uber-Competitive Division title. Carbondale and Loyola A earned 3rd and 4th place, respectively, after the breaking of the three-way tie for 2nd. Congratulations to Standard Division champion Fenton for winning the one-game final over Saint Joseph's; Saint Joseph's earned their way into the final by defeating 3rd place Saint Viator A.

*Thanks to everyone who made the charity doubles event a wonderful end to a great day of competition. Congratulations go to Ben Chametzky and Ned Lauber, who cleared the field.

*Finally, thanks to Yale and Centennial HS for the use of their sets; please remember that the sets are not yet cleared for online discussion. Comments about questions can be directed to Matt Jackson of Yale and Adam Silverman of Centennial, or to me and I'll forward it along.

*Comments/feedback about the tournament's running is always appreciated; please email me with any thoughts.

Once again, thank you to everyone for a great day of quizbowl!

Brad FischerNHBB Director of Question Production and Upper Midwest Regional CoordinatorCoach, Keith Country Day School

Thank you for running a great tournament, unfortunate that once again we did not really have enough packets to do proper final stuffz, but what are you going to do. Pretty much everything went well on the day, and I got to hear most of two good sets in a day, which cannot be said often.

Stats: Half-games are currently put in as whole games, and I only played half of our first game against Loyola B.

Also, if anybody happened to find / accidentally grab / save from being lost forever a copy of Edward Albee's Zoo Story (and.....The American Dream? I believe), I would love to know.

Saint's Joseph's really enjoyed playing this tournament. The set was very good, and it was nice to play some new competition and to actually have good moderators for every game. I think this has opened up our team to traveling more, and we're definitely planning on coming next year. Our only complaint was that it ended late so we couldn't get home until 11:30.

"Trang Academy" had a good experience. The set was great and the day went pretty smoothly. Thanks to all the moderators and also to Brad and Kristin, who got us in the field at the last minute. I hope we can return sometime next year.